God of the Fighters

St John presents God as the God of the living in his gospel of Jesus Christ; he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. God cannot belong to the realm of the dead, those who have crossed the threshold of life and have passed into the netherworld. God by his very nature is living, and his life gives life to the world. Therefore we cannot think of God as anyone different from the living. No wonder then that St Peter in his famous declaration of his faith to his Master, calls him as the “Son of the living God”. What a wonderful title for Jesus, whose life was characterized by life, life in its fullness. He had life overflowing in him, and all those who were living life half-heartedly, began to brim with the fullness of life, which made his enemies shudder.

God takes the side of those who dare to take life as it came, and not those who ran away from it. God invites the daring to fight, even with him, and he is sure not to impose his power and might on the weak creatures, but gives due weightage to the fight. The Old Testament presents such a beautiful picture of Abram fighting with God, and is also rewarded for his boldness to wrestle with the Mighty God. Abram becomes Abraham, and he gets a new identity, after winning over God for his side, and I tend to believe God would have been delighted to “fight” with his servant Abram, very much like bitches love to play with their puppies, and they have so much of fun in the play. God invites his children to even fight with him, so that they might grow from strength to strength.

The Bhagavad Gita too presents such a God who beckons his disciple to go fighting, and not to shy away from his responsibility. Arjuna refuses to fight the battle, resolving to retreat, because it would be dishonor to fight with one’s own kinsmen. It is easy to give up at the thick of the battle, and it takes a lot of guts to go forward, unaware what fate awaited him. Arjuna might have also been afraid of the consequences; what if he were to lose the battle? It takes the whole of the Bhagavad Gita for Lord Krishna to instruct Arjuna, so that he might go forward to fight, come what may. He was not to think about the fruits of his labor, but only do his duty. That is why at the end, Arjuna surrenders to the Divine Lord, saying ‘karishye vachanam tava’ (I have resolved to do your will). That is when the actual battle is won.

The world unfortunately has more losers and retreaters than fighters; there are too many fears stopping even those who have the strength to fight the battle. There are bad companions who counsel in wicked ways, and there are circumstances which puts off even the valiant soldiers. Life’s battle does not come with too many risks; there are difficult times and hardships, but they can never destroy a person; what can really destroy a person is his or her unwillingness to take the fight and do it to the best of his/her ability. Those who wish to run away from the battle are the losers in all the cases. For the brave, no army is too large to win; it is the inner battle that one has to win before winning the physical war. This is the wonderful lesson that many of the biblical stories present to us.

Let me end with yet another beautiful story from the Bible, and this time a boy dares to fight with a monster, and defeat him. No one can take David, the shepherd boy, when he approaches Saul to fight against the monstrous Philistian’s Goliath. The boy is made a laughing stock, which the boy has the heart of steel, and he knows for sure to defeat this monster, what he needed was not physical prowess, but spiritual strength, and the boy had in abundance. And we are amazed at the way the boy swings the catapult and drowns the giant. No one can believe that was possible for a boy who knew only to tend his sheep, but David is a warrior who won the battle of the heart before defeating his enemies, and he invites today every one of us to our battles, here and now!

Life-promoting at all cost

No human person or the social structure on earth under whatever pretext, has the moral authority to take the life of a human person. Sometimes I fear we have given too much liberty to the state and the state machinery to play with the lives of its citizens at will, with very little care and concern for their lives. The human made hunger and starvation in certain parts of the world, and the growing colossal waste of edible things in other parts of the planet make one to think if God had created two kinds of human beings. But that is only one side of the spectrum, where we witness people dying en masse due to mismanagement of the earth’s resources. If the state had wisely allocated the natural resources to her citizens, such a thing may not happen.

I tend to believe that the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis summarizes the entire history of the human race. If we look carefully at the way how different incidents and events in the first few chapters represent epoch-making events of the world’s history, we are awe-stuck. Let me take the story of Cain and Abel to illustrate how what transpired between the two brothers is symbolic of what is happening even today in our neighborhood. Cain and Abel are, to use a term popularized by Carl Jung, archetypes of certain sections of the society. From a simplistic point of view, they represent the good and the evil, but looking at from a deeper perspective they represent the life-promoting and life-denying forces.

In every place where life is denied, either voluntarily or involuntarily, then the spirit of Cain is at work, and wherever we encounter life is promoted and safeguarded at all cost, then the spirit of Abel is at work. Whatever be the situation and partiality that became apparent for Cain, he had no right to take the life of his brother Abel. He could never justify what he had done. No death can be final, but it might only unearth some other dirty demons out of the cupboards. In the Bible the event has been presented in a dramatic way, as if the spirit of Abel crying for justice in the presence of God. If such is true, then God should be spending sleepless nights each day, because we cannot imagine how many lives are taken forcefully each day.

One of the primary responsibilities of every state is to promote life of her citizens and provide avenues for them to nurture and cherish life. The state cannot put her citizen in an endangering situation, leave alone put them at the forefront of battlegrounds, where their lives would be at stake. Human race had fought many a battle, where millions of men, women and children had breathed their lost, in order to protect the selfish motives of a handful of political leaders, who desired to have their way, at the loss of these men and women. In the name of national security, every nation spends billions of dollars in order to keep the aliens away; protecting the lifeless borders is one thing, and killing the intruding the ‘foreigners’ is another issue.

Everyone on earth can be a life-promoter, in whatever little way it is possible. We do not need to do great things, but we could do simple things through which we could safeguard the life of a person or two. If every individual on earth vouches to protect the life of the people around, and go to all extend to promote life, then the world would be a different place altogether. Evil might be fleeing from the face of the earth too soon. It is possible for every person to do this simple act of charity : each day as I wake up I could whisper to myself that I would promote life of the persons I shall be encountering this day, and will not be the cause of the life-denial of anyone. There is nothing impossible in this simple resolution, and then we will see how the world is becoming the Garden of Eden once again, and this time there might be no snake to tempt and trick us.

‘M only Human

Sometimes I shudder to think how ‘human’ I am, that I am all too vulnerable! The image that often crosses my mind is a dry leaf caught in a whirlwind, unable to find its way, but being tossed by forces from all sides; it may have to land in a place it would have least desired, and all its dreams and aspirations would have gone awry. It is true, as a human person, endowed with reason, I am able to stir my life to a certain extent, but more than that I am but a fry in the limitless ocean, and my words and actions can make too little difference in the world I live and have my being. To realize that I am a limited being in the midst of limitless universe, is too frightening.

But that is what reality is, and I have no other alternative than to accept this fact, that I am incapable of changing most of myself, what I am and what I have been taught, and what I carry with me 24x7. Sometimes I wish I have been endowed with limitless powers to control the forces which make me dance according to their tunes, but I am frightened that it would only mean that there would be anarchy all around me, if that same limitless power is given to all those who wish to control my existence, my being and my life in this universe. Ultimately I have to accept my limitations, vulnerabilities and live with them happily.

There were times when I would think of changing one particular aspect of my personality, do my best to practice asceticism or self-control in order to discipline myself; but now I realize that all those had been mere eye-wash; I change too little even after several self-conscious attempts. I am reminded of that beautiful story of a jackal which fell on a bucket full of water-color, and went around claiming himself to be the king of the forest, and all others believed him, until one rainy day he got wet and all the color disappear, and he had to acknowledge his true self. That is what happens often with me, and it would not take too long for my true color to appear.

From my younger days, I had been taught to consider myself as a strong person with strong inclinations and habits, with a capacity to design my own life as I desire. There had been deliberate attempts to undermine the ‘human’ aspect in me, and there were some who considered that to accept one’s own vulnerability is to give in to them. They would not permit me to acknowledge my weaknesses, but I realize as I grow that one area of blessedness opens only when I see my own weaknesses, my own vulnerabilities, or to use an idiomatic expression, when I see my own nakedness. I am no different from the rest of humanity, and I do not need to put up a face to show that I am better than the rest, I feel comfortable being one among the weak humanity.

I can be conscious of my weaknesses, and yet be on the alert not to give in to them whenever they assail me. To know that I am a sinner does not make me truly a sinner, but when I allow myself to sinful action, words and thoughts, then they do make me truly a sinner. The same can be applied for my weaknesses and vulnerabilities too. My weaknesses do not necessarily make me weak; I can put up a fierce battle even with all my weaknesses, but when I give in to my base nature and indulge in things which make me dehuman or subhuman, then I become weak, and they can gradually lead me to meet my nemesis. But so long I am on my guard, safeguarding my weaknesses from being assaulted, then I can be sure that I can retain my sanity, come what may!

The short-sighted

It is so painful to come across people who are myopic, short-sighted, who cannot look beyond their nose, as it were. All that they can see is the tip of their noses, and their shoulder blades. The problem is aggravated if this kind of people are placed in charge of some other simple, gullible people, who may not have a voice. Sometimes the life of a person may be at risk if the person who sits on top were to think something other than what common sense may demand. In order to assert one’s superiority, authority, or even dubious spiritual power, this person may do something which may cost a life or more, and still they may remain what they were, and may not reconsider the futility of their arrogance or myopia.

As I sat sitting the emotionally-charged words of one of our friends, who felt how the person who was in-charge of him turned a blind eye to him, leaving him to semi-existence. Tears were welling up in his eyes, as he narrated to me how he felt, and what he was contemplating of. I cannot just disregard the sentiments of this companion, who is no small child to shed tears, because he did not get what he wanted; he was senior to me, and in age at least six or seven years older to me. That is to say, he should be nearing 50, and it is not easy to bear a man of that age shed tears, and I could see that he was not faking, it was genuine. He could not resist the tears, and had to go to the sink once to wash his face. I was helpless as to how to console him.

Though I would not agree to all that he had told me, I could understand that there was a point in what he was feeling, and how he was treated. I could understand that he did not receive a fair deal from his boss, who could decide on his fate (thanks to the religious vow of obedience that the inferior had professed). I knew only too well that this boss had too little time to think about the men he is to look after; his eyes were fixed on something higher and noble, and he would not stoop to be bothered about the dispensable men. He had made decisions, which involved this sick friend, without even properly informing him, and this sick companion asked me, ‘what will happen if I refused to accept his proposal?’ and there are more chances that he may not agree to it.

Those who wish to succeed in life are invited to focus their attention on what they wish to achieve, and exclude from their perspective and attention everything else which may distance them from the goal they wish to achieve. Our boss was doing exactly the same, and there are so many victims, who could have been retained in our company, were they given proper guidance and directions. One person’s determination to achieve what he was craving for was going to let another person lose in the battle with life, and I felt sad for this friend, but I had no strong words of consolation. Sometimes I felt I was as powerless and hapless as other people who needed the strong hands of some powerful people to save them.

Living a life of dedication for some 30 years and contemplating leaving this kind of life, in order to explore avenues to save one’s life is something I find it hard to accept. There was so much of sorrow in his heart, and maybe this is the first time that he had dared to pour out his heart to someone. I was asking myself, have we become so very indifferent to human feelings and sentiments that we could continue to hold on to our own guts, even at the expense of letting others who are under our care to perish silently. Have we closed our ears to listen to their silent sobs and screams of agony and pain? Why is it that we cannot just question the personal evils of a select few spewing venom on a group of well-meaning dedicated people?

Letting Barking Dogs Bark

Often in life, it is easier to retrieve from the battle-front than to stand in the thick of fight and be overpowered. It is psychologically simpler to run away when the battle grows thick, and there are still chances of saving one's life, even if that means acknowledging one's cowardice and shame, than to face the deadly weapons scathing through one's body, while the soul remains unmoved. We are of course, not talking about battlefronts or brave warriors or consequences of losing one's battle. This is merely an allusion, which we all go through each day, and have a lot to teach us.

My friend is convinced that there is no point in fighting with other companions who were after her to put down, and show their superiority complex in all respects. So, when the others try to shout at her, she makes it a point to keep quiet and mind her own work. This has not stopped the problem, but had only aggravated it. If there are people who grumble that she was spending too much time in the computer room with internet, she would decide not to step into that room, lest they get another chance to talk about her. But the problem has not stopped there either.

In a battle front, one cannot be careless; every move should be calculated; but if one is too preoccupied by the moves and refuses to swing the sword to prevent the enemy coming past one, there may be nothing left to calculate. The iron has to be hit when it is still redhot, or else it is difficult to shape it. Avoidance may be one way of handling problems related to persons who are or think they are superior to others, but sure that does not solve the problems. Confrontation (care-frontation) is another way of doing it, though this may not work with people who do not bother to take one seriously.

We can learn a good lesson from stray dogs. These street dogs have a way of finding out who is brave and who is coward. There are persons who as soon as they hear a dog bark, start running away, and the dogs know that they are frightened and so have fun in chasing them. If someone were to stand and stare at the barking dogs, they would invariably soften their barking, and after a while even stop trying to frighten them. This is a reality, and if we try to run away from problems, the problems may start chasing us, until we are fully down; if we stand erect and face them, then we may realize there was no problem at all!

There is also another way of handling these people who are after our blood. To let them bark as much as they want. They cannot bark endlessly; when they find that no one is taking them seriously, they may grow tired and ultimately stop barking. Let people say whatever they want; I will continue to do what I am convinced is the right thing to do. I should be prepared to be challenged, and even face the brickbats; ultimately what matters is if I am ready to stand by what I am convinced of, even if that means giving ears to endless barking. But the barking will one day stop, and I then can breathe easy!